Columbus, OH – R Street Institute hosted a special Repeal Day event that featured a discussion of home distilling and Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury, The Buckeye Institute’s case challenging the federal government’s ban on home distilling. 

The event featured Andrew Grossman, senior legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute and one of the attorneys representing John Ream, and partner at BakerHostetler; Kevin Kosar, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of Moonshine: A Global History; and Max Watman, author of Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine. The discussion was moderated by Jarrett Dieterle, resident senior fellow at R Street Institute and author of Give Me Liberty and Give Me a Drink!

As far back as the Whiskey Rebellion, homemade distilled spirits have been a target of the U.S. government’s ire—a trend that continued through Prohibition and has persisted to the present day. While home brewing and home winemaking were legalized decades ago, home distilling remains prohibited under federal law. But is this often-overlooked federal ban constitutional?

Earlier this year, The Buckeye Institute, representing Ohio resident John Ream, filed a lawsuit asserting that government prohibition on the home distillation of spirits exceeds the powers granted to Congress under the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. The implications extend far beyond booze—in famous (or perhaps infamous) Supreme Court precedents like Gonzales v. Raich and Wickard v. Filburn, the modern interpretation of the Commerce Clause has been stretched to the limit. Could Ream’s lawsuit be an opportunity to claw back on the federal government’s seemingly ever-expanding reach, or could everyday activities like home baking and home gardening be outlawed next? And aside from the legal issues at play, are there any good policy reasons to prohibit home distilling in 21st century America?

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